The Disconnect Between How Thin or Fit We Look and How Healthy We Actually Are
There is a disconnect between the healthy life extending benefits of physical activity and its use to look good and thin and lose weight
There are two connected threads I want to discuss today.
The first is the intertwining of weight loss and physical activity. More and more, the goal of physically activity, whether it is via walking, running or strength training seems to be to lose weight and look good, rather than be healthy…which is quite unfortunate.
While morbid obesity is associated with a host of harmful downstream effects, physical fitness and weight loss do not necessarily go hand in hand. Typically, if you have not been active and start running or walking, you may lose a certain amount of excess weight, but once the body reaches a specific stable state that is right for you, your weight is unlikely to budge (this is the plateau as it is called), irrespective of how much more you try to be active or reduce your calorie intake or both. This often causes frustration and many people quit being active just because they don’t seem to be losing weight. You may even paradoxically put on weight, especially if you are trying to prevent loss of muscle mass and/or if increase your protein content.
